I was actually holding off on submitting this chapter. I wanted to submit it on the 10th (for my own special reasons) but I decided that the last and final chapter will be posted then. SO BE HAPPY PEOPLE, you actually get an update fairly soon!

Um, excuse any mistakes. Didn't exactly look this over after finishing it. I'll look through it later and edit any of the especially terrible ones out later.

Act VII: In Which the Final Battle Between Mage and Dragon Takes Place or In Which Zelda Becomes Quite Flustered

Vaati immediately stepped in front of Zelda, expression livid. "I have had more than enough of you." The wind mage snarled.

The dragon let out another gravelly chuckle. "I could say the same of you, purple bug."

Zelda stepped back for a moment. This was not safe. Then again, the whole ordeal was not safe, but now it felt… it felt really horrible. The air was thick with hatred and anger as well as all sorts of magic that was just barely being contained… It was taking most of her willpower to keep all that nastiness from making her throw up, though she was fairly certain she was a few shades greener than was normal.

"I think it's time we finally put a stop to this game of cat and mouse. What say you, dragon?" The mage asked, his voice dripping venom.

"As entertaining as the game is, I'd have to agree. After all, it isn't long before nightfall, and I'm getting quite famished." The dragon concluded his statement with a terrifying, sharp toothed grin.

"Condition: Neither of us is to lay claim to the princess until a victor is declared."

"Excuse me?!" Zelda managed to exclaim weakly.

But Vaati ignored her, his red, angry gaze wholly focused on Onox.

The dragon's stump of a tail twitched, giving the impression that if it had still been there, it would have been waving around like that of a conniving cat's. A deep thrum came from the beast's throat, contemplating the simple condition. "Hmph; I'll accept under the condition that we both swear upon our magic to a fair duel, namely no sweeping the wind from beneath my wings."

"Tch, smart dragon. Very well." Vaati said snidely. "Princess!"

Zelda snapped to attention, surprised that she was being brought into this. She'd found that her voice didn't seem to matter to either dragon or mage whenever they had a confrontation. Still feeling a bit bitter about that, she replied with a frustrated, "What?!"

"The brute and I need to swear upon our magic. Normally, a third party isn't needed for this but seeing as I don't trust him and it's safe to assume he doesn't trust me-"

"I don't." Onox confirmed.

"- we need a third party to get us to swear in to assure in a more or less fair duel."

The princess scowled. "… I suppose as long as it means I won't get swooped up and stolen away again in the middle of a fiery death match, I can." Swallowing the gut wrenching fear that she somehow managed to conceal during her snarky comment, she stepped forward and looked from dragon to mage, who were both staring at her, waiting. And then she found herself swallowing her pride knowing what words she was about to say. "The Sorcerer of Winds Vaati and Dragon Onox; do you both swear upon your magic not to harm or force me into anything until this duel is concluded fairly and a victor decided?"

"I swear."

"I swear."

The dragon and mage then snapped their gazes back at each other. The duel had already begun; each was just waiting for the other to move first. Zelda inched backwards again, back towards the cave.

"Zelda," Vaati said, his gaze still upon on Onox. "Stay right where you are. I'll be done with the overgrown lizard soon enough."

The princess shuddered at the words. They exuded the same amount of confidence and pride as… as when he said he would never let her go. Before she could register what thoughts were racing in her head, she blurted out, "I'll never forgive you if you lose!"

"Never forgive me?" There was a slight hint of amusement in his voice, "How will I ever live with myself?"

Immediately after saying it, the mage launched upwards. Zelda barely had time to blink before seeing that the mage was no longer in the humanoid form she'd become accustomed to but the black Cyclops bat creature that she'd first seen him as. Eyes wide, she watched as the battle became beast against beast with each raking the other from both sides. While Vaati was still much, much smaller in comparison to the great dragon, the monstrous form was giving extra substance to the battle that magic alone could not. And she wasn't sure if what she was watching was a spectacle for the ages or something out of a nightmare.

Flashes of fire, claws against claws, angry gusts of winds, magic she couldn't identify flying all over the place while both creatures blurred back and forth in a deadly dance in the light of dusk.

But strangely, the floor was shaking… But both Vaati and Onox were in the sky and… dirt was flying around. She finally tore her gaze from the battle and looked down next to her to see the ground practically explode in a flurry of rock dust. Blinking absently, she began to make out a familiar shape… "Ledd?" She asked in awe.

"Huh? Whosaiddat?" A shake later and the dirt flew off of the Mogma. And sure enough, it was a scratched up and partially bald Ledd. "Zelly! Yo, you're in one piece!" The Mogma said happily. "Last time I saw ya there was all this fire and junk – but look at you, you're okay!"

"I'm okay?! I thought you had burned alive!" She said, her broad smile betraying the sound of her incredulous voice as she practically jumped the mogma and gave him a tight embrace.

But Ledd had barely noticed her hug when he'd caught sight of the sky, "Whooaa, what's going on up there?!"

She looked back up to the sky and then frowned, reminded that there were two beats currently fighting over her. "The same thing that happened before," she said grimly.

"Huh? But where's that purply guy that had you trapped in the crystal?"

"Um, ah… he's the giant black bat with the horns…" Zelda said awkwardly.

"R-really? Whoddathunk he'd be a thing like that…" The mogma said nervously. "B-but hey, Zel, whatteryou still doing here?! They're not watching you or nothing, you can run away!"

"I suppose I can but…" she had begun… and then she hesitated. She had known that, but she hadn't really thought about why she had stayed. Because of Vaati's confident way of speaking? Was that it? And again she was reminded of the strange instances within the dodongo cave. Was it possible that she actually was… that she actually kind of liked him? Even if everything was all his fault. At least he's trying to make up for it, her thoughts told her. And she didn't try to shush those thoughts, though she had to admit they did make her feel quite uncomfortable. "I'm not going to run." She said finally, though her voice was still shaky with uncertainty.

"Huh? But why? That guy's totes crazy creepy! He has these little tiny evil bats that tear hair off!" Ledd cried out.

"I know!" Zelda said snappishly, her face reddening. "L-listen, I know it's crazy but… I know what I'm doing, okay?"

The Mogma twiddled his claws, "If you say so… but this place stinks of more fiery close calls, I'm getting outta here so… uh, good luck, then, Zel."

"Thanks, Ledd… but can you actually do me a favor?"

"A favor? Yeah, sure; name it, Zelly."

"Can you find a give a message to someone for me, please?" She asked, her eyes darting nervously back and forth between the ongoing battle between beasts and her mogma acquaintance.

"Yeah, sure… Um, who am I looking for?"

"A friend of mine named Link; he's been looking for me in Hyrule, I'm sure… And he's probably very worried. Could you please tell him that I'm all right and still waiting for him at the Palace?" She said, a knot twisting tightly in her stomach as she said it.

"Hyrule, huh…? Yeah, I'll get right on it, but Zel… I really hope ya know what you're doin." Ledd said. "Well, see ya around then!" And with that, he dug himself back into his hole and burrowed off.

"I hope I know what I'm doing too…" She confessed to herself and she turned her attention fully back to the battle in the sky.

No matter which way she looked at it, both the monstrous wind mage and the massive dragon seemed to be on a level playing field. While the wind mage was smaller and able to maneuver out of sweeping attacks, Onox still had massive power to any physical blows as well as his flames. Vaati had chanced swiping his own claws if the dragon made himself open, as well as using his wind magic and various other destructive magics that seemed to involve impressive displays of light. But the morbid fascination was replaced wholly with fear as a jet of flame missed Vaati and began to rain down upon her.

She quickly racked her brains for some sort of barrier spell and attempted it, but the magic sputtered in her hands and she found herself nearly fainting. She stumbled, realizing that she was more exhausted by this whole ordeal than she initially thought. She hugged herself, bracing herself for the worst… but then she noticed the flames just seemed to slide off of the air around her.

"Watch it you bumbling oaf of a dragon! I realize you want to eat her but you're getting too gung-ho on the cooking!" She heard the grating voice of demon Vaati snap at Onox.

As Onox irately replied, "Then how about you be more careful where you flit around to, bug," Zelda thought that she had been trapped within another crystal… until she saw a somewhat transparent box-like structure around her. She extended a hand to it, seeing that her fingers passed through it. She wasn't trapped like before. Vaati had kept the spell loose so that she'd be able to run if necessary.

But that's for his own benefit! He doesn't actually care, remember that Zelda! She told herself, despite the fact that the thought wasn't sitting well with her… She didn't want to think too hard about why.

"… Overgrown gecko!"

"Mutated keese!"

"Winged slug!"

"Irritating little he-witch!"

Zelda turned her attention back to the sky at the interesting exchange. It was difficult now to really see the two, as dusk was almost all the way to night… but the glare of the dragon's eyes as well as Vaati's one crimson orb gave away their places. The erratic movements and the slashes and crashed in the air told her they were still fighting, but had somehow also begun a pathetic exchange of name-calling, probably brought upon after Vaati had chastised Onox for allowing flames to get near her.

Her eyes adjusted enough just in time so that with a massive flap of his wings and a booming roar, Onox cried out, "ENOUGH!"

Both beasts hovered in midair, eyeing each other with deepest loathing.

"It pains to admit that as beasts, our duel is not going anywhere."

"Tch, had we not agreed to fair terms I can assure you this would have already ended." Demon Vaati hissed. Heck, he was sure he would have been able to win in a fair fight had he been well-rested… but the saying, "no rest for the wicked," seemed to be all too relevant at this time.

"Then perhaps a conclusion can be made in a different way; you take your humanoid form and I shall take one of my own; that immediately takes away size difference…" the dragon let out a ghastly chuckle, "More or less anyways…"

Vaati was silent, considering the dragon's words. He had to be honest, he hadn't expected the dragon to admit to having humanoid form. It wasn't unusual for creatures of raw magic like dragons to have such forms; after all, humans and Hylians could be quite barbaric sometimes, attacking what they didn't understand. To ensure survival, blending in was necessary. It was just standard evolution, really – one would have to change in order to survive. But proud creatures such as dragons tended to be stubborn about taking other forms unless absolutely necessary. Nonetheless, Vaati was not naturally a One Eyed Beast. In his standard form, he would be at more of an advantage… "Very well, Onox. We'll conclude this man to man… in a manner of speaking."

Zelda had simply watched the exchange with a measure of wariness and confusion. Onox as a human-like creature… She had a hard time imagining it. But more concerning was what this meant for her. How were the odds looking for her in this situation? She honestly didn't know, and her stomach was knotting like crazy as her thoughts became progressively grimmer in her mind.

"Zelda?" She brought herself out of her reverie of dark thoughts at Vaati's voice. He was standing before her, humanoid in appearance again and curiosity upon his handsome features. The princess was at a loss for words at the moment. Perhaps the finality of the whole situation was just hitting her now. Vaati and Onox… this was really the deciding battle for the two villains. And she was the prize. She was sure the knots in her stomach were about to pour out all over the floor any moment, and her hand shot to her mouth as she gagged.

"Zelda, I stand by what I said."

The gag died down. "H-huh…?"

"No one shall take you from me. This dragon included." He sounded almost put out, as if he'd read her mind and was insulted by the very fact she was considering he might possibly lose. If her face was green, she was sure it had turned pink then. He had that confidence in himself… that arrogant confidence that she, for some completely outrageous reasoning she couldn't possibly even begin to understand, found attractive.

His annoyed voice again intruded upon her thoughts, "Are we absolutely clear on that, Zelda?"

She just stared for a moment, not sure what to say. Still unable to find words, she gave him a weak nod.

"Are you quite finished over there?"

Zelda nearly jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Well, to call it unfamiliar wasn't entirely true. It was deep, rumbling… Something in it definitely spoke of what its owner truly was, though the reverberation through her off. It almost sounded like he was speaking from inside of a helmet… And it was so dark now, the moon being obscured by the mountain-side, she couldn't really see anything past Vaati.

Witchlights glowing a pale indigo suddenly came into being, fluttering around the area. Zelda had no doubts that the wind mage had been the practitioner behind them.

"Heh. So that's the form he chooses… Dragons do love their armor, I suppose." Vaati had commented absently.

And she saw why. Standing quite a few feet away was a large form, bipedal and bulky, and with a very blocky silhouette. And as the witchlights flickered by it, the blocky shapes gleamed and shined. Metal. It was plate armor. The large figure was covered in menacing looking plate armor. And while she couldn't readily identify the proper color of it, she was willing to bet that it was the same hues found on the large dragon that had been hovering in the sky just minutes before. And as if to make the whole ensemble more intimidating, in one of the plated hands of the figure was a ball and chain the likes of which she was sure an ordinary human being couldn't handle.

"A-an Iron Knuckle?" She guffawed.

"No, but he's probably a fan of them – either that or they're a fan of him." Again, Vaati had spoken carelessly, as if this wasn't a completely terrifying situation.

"B-but how are you going to fight against that?! Armor like tha-"

It was the last thing she expected, Vaati kissing her. And, as seemed to be the fashion of the past twenty minutes, she had no idea what to do about it. She knew she definitely wanted to punch him, but she was frozen in place. For some reason, she found herself saying that she couldn't hit him for this unless it was a bad reason. And she didn't know the reasoning. It certainly wasn't a romantic kiss, nor was it a chaste kiss…

When he backed away a moment later (though the princess had to confess it didn't feel like just a moment), he said, "You're far too chatty. I'll only be a moment."

She still stood dumbfounded and blushing even after he'd turned around to head towards Onox. It was still all processing in her head… And then her blush just turned into a tomato red of rage. He just did that to shut me up! She stomped her foot down and grit her teeth. How dare he? Kissing a lady just to keep her quiet; as if he couldn't be any more infuriating! But she kept her desire to scream inside, deciding to let the anger boil and fester so that it could be all the worse to unleash after she became the prize to whoever won. Because regardless of winner, they were going to get a world class hissy fit, yes they were!

Onox merely chuckled at the scene, and wisps of smoke exited his sallet as he laughed.

"There are some things a dragon just cannot contain, it seems." Vaati commented nonchalantly.

The dragon grinned beneath his sallet, but said nothing regarding the comment. Instead, he chose to get straight to the point since night had fallen and he was on a time limit, "Well, bug? We have chosen to fight man-to-man; are you choosing to come into this battle unarmed? I won't have any complaints, regardless."

"Unfortunately for you, I don't have a death wish." Was the mage's reply. Truthfully, he didn't have a weapon at the ready. He was a mage of winds after all, he didn't usually need to carry external weapons because magic was a force of nature – it was all around. The good thing was, magic was also an excellent way to conjure up something like a weapon – not something to be used for the long run, but for a hopefully quick and dirty fight like this, it should work.

He summoned a sentry eye, which appeared with a little puff of smoke and bobbed happily at the sight of its master. Being bound to its master's will, it also knew immediately what Vaati wanted and was all too happy to oblige. The little sentry smooshed and flattened itself in midair, almost looking like it was some sort of dough being handled by an invisible baker. Zelda found herself rather baffled by the sight of the sentry doing such a thing, especially considering it was stretching far more than she would have ever imagined such a thing to do… then again, she had never imagined such a little creature would be able to morph its shape in such a way at all. It stretched its length to about three feet before flattening itself out in midair, shaping itself to a basic blade, and then jutting out a guard at the hilt. The sentry opened up its single little red eye at the guard, looking up at its master for some sign of approval. Vaati smirked and took the sentry-sword from midair, giving it an experimental swing.

Contrary to popular belief, Vaati had won that sword fighting competition in the Picori Festival fair and square all those many years ago. He was a mage, but that didn't mean he was incompetent with a blade – especially considering his meager origins. All Minish knew how to handle weapons – all of them. At such a small size, literally anything could kill you and one had to be prepared at all times, because sometimes magic just wasn't enough. So while Vaati didn't consider himself an extraordinary swordsman, he was good enough to beat Hylians simply because he had been forced to get quite creative in how to beat the many things that wanted to kill him as a Minish. So while he may have won all those years ago, he also knew that his win was considered quite "dirty."

"Whenever you're ready, dragon." Vaati said confidently as he strode forward, holding his sentry-sword at the ready.

The dragon let out a short cackle before picking up the ball and chain and spinning it above his head effortlessly. Vaati remained in place, analyzing.

Their choice of weaponry made for an interesting set-up. Onox had chosen a ranged weapon of sorts, while Vaati had gone for a melee weapon – both very different styles of combat. Onox's weapon was designed so that a person with a melee weapon would have a difficult time getting near. However, spinning that flail around over his head like that made him vulnerable. If Vaati could get close enough before Onox struck, or maybe even right after he struck… The mage hid his smile; close quarters combat like this required a poker face after all.

It wasn't a moment later when Onox sent the spiked ball in Vaati's direction; he side-stepped and then charged at the dragon's bipedal form, the tiniest bit of wind magic pushing his steps forward. He didn't strike immediately, instead merely looking at Onox's armor to find any weaknesses that could be exploited. He didn't get that much of a good look, because Onox managed to pull the chain back, maneuvering himself and the weapon so that the spiked end was coming right at Vaati. The mage glided backwards and landed with a small skid. No time to relax, the spiked ball was coming at him once again. Onox was much swifter than he let on in this armored form.

It seemed to be a game of cat and mouse then, and Zelda had no idea who would win. She wasn't aware either the dragon or mage had any sort of experience wielding such weapons… But she had to imagine if she was in Onox's place, she'd be very annoyed with how Vaati always managed to slide out of every fancy maneuver that was thrown at him. The same went for if she was in Vaati's place: Onox's persistence was probably beyond irritating. But in the end that's what started this whole stupid situation: the two just plain didn't like each other…

Still, she was stumped. Onox would strike, Vaati would slide out of the way, Onox would then retaliate with surprising speed… But Vaati wasn't really doing anything aside from getting out of the way. Zelda bit her lip, watching the scene with ever growing anxiety, wondering where on earth this fight was going to go.

And then Vaati made his strike. Onox had thrown the ball and chain, Vaati rushed in, the dragon quickly dragged the ball around to swing to Vaati, the mage ducked and then brought his blade down right on the back of one of the dragon's legs, where the armor was weak and the back of the calf just slightly exposed. Onox let out a roar of pain and staggered forwards, the ball and chain dealing him further damage by slamming into his side from his misstep as Vaati simply glided off to the side. The mage had a satisfied look on his face, though he was still on guard.

"Hamstring…?" The dragon growled. "What a nasty move, bug."

"Did you expect any less?"

"Harumph… I suppose not." With surprising quickness, he stood straight again and threw his ball and chain at the mage. The mage's eyes widened in surprise as he tried to glide out of the way, but the ball and chain wrapped around his blade and yanked him back. Onox grinned viciously as he began to drag the chain towards him. Vaati scowled and muttered something unpleasant under his breath as he was dragged closer to the beast in the Knuckle armor, but quickly rectified the situation by tilting his sentry-blade downwards. As the chains slid downwards from the blade, Vaati glided backwards and regained his distance from his foe.

"You're filled with nasty moves as well, if not mediocre." Vaati said flatly. "Anyone with a brain knows to simply turn the blade down."

A deep chuckle echoed from within Onox's sallet, "I suppose I simply assumed you didn't have a brain."

Anger flashed in Vaati's eyes; the mage was about to charge, but stopped himself. The dragon was baiting him… just like the first two times. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times… well, either way you'll be dead. He thought with a bitter smirk. The next time he moved, he would make it count. He would finish this battle. And he could tell from the way Onox righted himself, favoring his uninjured leg, that the dragon was of the same mind.

If he could get in quickly enough and land a blow right at center mass, it would be devastating to the dragon… But center mass was always the most heavily armored place of any suit of armor. How much strength are you capable of…? The thought was directed towards his makeshift sentry sword. It was a simple construct – not a real blade. It had a damage limit – but how much damage could he do if he managed to put all of his strength, not that that was much either… but if he could put his magic into this… He gritted his teeth. The vow on their magic… A fair duel. I suppose I'll just have to get him to break it first.

And he already knew how.

The witchlights that had been providing the light for the small battlefield in the night winked out abruptly, leaving everything in darkness.

"Pah! No fair, mage! In this form I cannot see in the darkness!" Onox barked angrily.

"But I haven't broken any rules, Onox, considering I'm just as blind as you are at the moment." Vaati answered smugly, making sure to keep moving quickly and quietly as to not be pinpointed by the dragon.

He heard the wary shuffling of an uncomfortable Onox – the dragon was definitely not used to fighting outside of his element. Vaati could only smirk at that thought, even though he hadn't been lying. He was really just as blind as the dragon, but he actually knew what he was doing as he quietly stepped further and further back.

Zelda, in the meanwhile, strained to see in the darkness. She would have tried to summon a light herself, but knew that Vaati had dismissed his own lights for a reason… And she certainly didn't want to compromise whatever plan he had in his head. She was still mad at him, yes, but she'd rather not get eaten by a dragon. Nonetheless, she was just as uncomfortable as Onox at that moment since she had no idea what was going on. So when she heard a whisper say, "Zelda…?"

She'd nearly screeched shrilly; but she recognized the voice as Vaati's, and quietly hissed, "What are you doing?!"

"Good…" And with that, there was a skidding sound on the dirt. Zelda's eyes widened with horror, her vision adjusting ever so slightly to see that Vaati had just slid the tip of his blade across the dirt purposefully. Before Zelda could say or scream anything, the ball and chain flew their way. Vaati side stepped and Zelda scrambled backwards, and with a devastating thud the spiked ball landed roughly inches away from Zelda. There were so many unpleasant things she wanted to say at that very moment, directed both at dragon and mage, but Vaati quietly hissed, "Quickly, touch it!"

She got it. She quickly laid her hand on the spiked ball, flinching a bit when her hand cut itself on one of the spikes.

Vaati's witchlights flickered back into existence, showing off the triumphantly smug look on the mage's face. "Why, Onox… it seems you've broken your swear."

The bipedal dragon made no movement, his sallet's visor clearly staring at Zelda, who was pointing out the cut on the palm of her hand. It wasn't a moment later when the dragon staggered back and a low growl of pain could be heard. The growl turned into a howl as the dragon began to clutch at his helmet as he stumbled upon himself. Vaati wasted no time – gliding forward with the power of the wind at his back, he swung the blade upwards along center mass of the great dragon Knuckle. The extra force of the wind behind the blow cracked and dented the armor upwards and sent the sallet of the dragon's humanoid form flying.

Another howl of pain followed by a massive crashing of metal could be heard. The mage looked down at his fallen foe, his expression the definition of satisfaction as he pointed the blade right at the humanoid dragon's now bare neck. Onox, who looked a weird mish-mash of human and Lizalfol, simply stared at the mage with utmost hatred in his reptilian eyes. "You foul little bug – you took it all away from me."

"You honestly didn't think our fair fight would really be fair, did you?" Prodding his sentry-sword's point at the beast's neck. "I wonder if it's really worth it to kill you now, though. Having broken a swear on your magic, you're stuck like this now, aren't you? In fact, I'd say you're quite harmless – disposing of you would be all too easy."

The dragon hissed at him, trying summon a gout of flame from his throat but failing. Onox let his head fall back on the ground, despair upon his visage.

Vaati's smirk grew into a malicious grin. "I'll let you live, so you can enjoy your loss of power… But I wouldn't advise making the mistake of coming near me again. I'll kill you without hesitation… In fact, I would advise you to stay away from Hyrule completely – the whole of it is my territory, and I would hate to have to take the garbage out again – I dislike getting my hands dirty."

And with that, the mage stepped away from the fallen Knuckle-dragon and threw his sword in the air. The sword returned to its sentry form, the sentry itself looking very dizzy and quite battered. "Not bad." He commented to the little creature, dismissing it.

"Vaati?" Zelda called quietly, not having moved from her place by the ball and chain.

The mage looked to the girl, his smirk returning as he made his way to the girl.

"Is he…?" Zelda asked, glancing at Onox, who had not even attempted to move.

"No; but he shan't be coming after either of us – I assure you." He said to her.

The princess sighed in relief, "Good…" She then looked to Vaati, her face contented, happy… grateful even. Then it quickly turned to a flash of anger as she slapped him.

Not having expected that, Vaati stepped back, raising a hand to the stinging sensation on his cheek. "You ungrateful little wench," he snarled.

"That's what you get for kissing me to shut me up!" She shouted. "And then that plan of yours with that ball and chain! That was dangerous!"

"What?" He snapped, confused, until he remembered that he had, in fact, done both those things. She was upset about that? He took a deep breath, trying with all his might to ignore the rage searing through him. "You… are the most irritating creature…" He growled… but he miraculously did manage to calm himself, after remembering what an idiot she'd been under the Jinx. "I suppose I wouldn't have it differently, though."

But Zelda said nothing; she simply huffed and crossed her arms, a blush coming upon her fair cheeks as she avoided his gaze. Her blush grew even more, however, when the mage went ahead and picked her up bridal style. "What on earth are you-"

"Would you prefer me to carry you like this or in claws?" He snapped, "Because we are certainly not walking back to Hyrule."

She pursed her lips and then let out an angry sigh. "Like this is… fine, I suppose…"

"Good; let's just hope your little friend and his clones don't arrive before we do." He said irritably.

And she supposed he was right about that…

And so the second to last bit of this story is here... For those wondering, I just went ahead and explained how General Onox came into being right now. Looks like this story can be considered canon-complaint I guess, even though I originally had no intention of it being placed anywhere in the timeline. XD Next update will be on the 10th, and then this story shall be finito. So see you then~

snowflake, haha, I'm glad you think so. And yes, you do spy some bonding!

Amychama248, yeah, but been busy and junk. DX Haha, no dragon killins for you, but at least Onox has been dealt with for good! XD And you just won so many cookies for saying Fly Away should be updated - yes you did. ALL OF THE COOKIES. 3

arietticat, heehee, I'm far from a deity, but thanks. And I wish it was canon too! D:

Aerois, good. And it's true, I really don't put too much thought into this story - the next and final chapter will be a testament to that, you shall see. And again, unless otherwise stated, I do not give up on stories. Well, prepare yourself... the end isn't too far away!

SkyArrow, oh, I know that feel. XD And again, I do not give up on stories unless I explicitly say so. And don't worry about the next update, you'll get that super soon!

Sage of Video Games, thanks, dearie. Busy doesn't even begin to describe life nowadays... sigh... Erm, anyways... NO. NEVER STOP REVIEWING. I may not exactly be crazy about how popular this story is but I'm a review whore. I love my reviews and reviewers. Because you guys certainly don't have to review, yet you do! That means a lot! And yay! Hopefully Fly Away will get an update soon but... we'll see. D:

Tinsel, thanks. :D

H-bomber, bwahahaha, well I do try to make the waits worth it. Thanks. XD

MaroonAngel of Darkness, that's because VaatiZelda is best pairing... well, one of my three top faves, anyways. XD IT NEEDS MORE LOVE. Well, his luck certianly took a turn for the better here. Sorta. XD

LadyLink98, thank you! Hopefully you'll like this update too!